Former Reef Keeper, Looking to Set Up a Discus Tank

[Perseverant]

A bit of background and questions...

I kept a 95 gallon reef for awhile, but lost it almost two years ago during a flood/power outage. Since then the tank has been sitting empty. I no longer have the time to maintain a reef tank so I'm planning on converting it to a low-maintenance discus set-up.

I've removed the 40 gallon breeder I was using as a sump to change some baffles around. Right now I'm planning on keeping the overflow drain as it is using a filter sock for mechanical filtration, followed by a "bubble trap", after that is a ~20 gallon chamber holding ~10 litres of k1 media, finally a layer of eggcrate and plastic canvas to keep the k1 away from the return pump (Mag Drive 9.5). Movement of the k1 media will be achieved with two strong airstones + a mini powerhead. Does this make sense so far? Also, as far as I understand k1 media is pretty much no maintenance once it builds up it's bacterial colonies? If I drain the sump to do a water change is there any risk if the k1 media is no longer submerged for a few minutes? Would you recommend anything in the way of chemical filtration?

Because I intend to make this low-maintenance I plan on limiting the stocking level quite a bit. Right now I'm thinking 5-6 discus and maybe around 50 cardinal tetras (I love these fish). A 1/2" sand bed with stones and driftwood as decoration. No plans for plants at the moment. So very minimalist overall. These tanks are "models" of what I hope to accomplish:







I'm a bit confused about water changes, I've seen lots of people advocating just using tap water? Would I need to treat it with something first, or just let it sit for a day with aeration and heating before throwing it in? Likewise, would this stocking level do well with weekly 30% water changes or would I need more? Total water volume: 95 gallon display + 30 gallons in sump = 125 gallons for 6 discus, so about 20 gallons per discus.

Finally, do discus prefer certain lighting?

Thanks for any replies!

[rickztahone]

Lol, those 2 first pictures were my exact inspirations for this last build I was doing. I didn't end up going with anything similar to that for a few reasons, but I digress. Welcome to Simply, and welcome to discus!

My only advice I have for you is to buy adults for your setup since you do not want a lot of maintenance. Here a couple of threads you may find interesting:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...reef-to-discus

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...-build-thread)

Once again, welcome. I think your idea of the sump is a good one, and one I considered. However, I found the K1 to be too expensive for what it was. I chose not to go that route, but if you happen to have that already, I saw use it.